Objective:
To conduct a critical analysis of the two main bibliometric indexes used by science: the impact factor and the H index.
Method:
Research was conducted on PubMed using the keywords: impact factor, Bibliometrics and H index.
Results:
The citations of articles tend to follow a curve in which the articles published in a given year increase sharply to a peak occurring between two and six years after its publication. From this peak citations decline over time.
Conclusion:
The analysis of the scientific merit should not be based on only in bibliometric measure, but in the association of various parameters. The impact factor and the H index is mainly based on the number of citations of scientific papers, and this parameter, although important, should not be used alone, nor overvalued in the evaluation of teaching merit.
Impact factor; Bibliometrics; H index
